Soar
by ocean23
Summary: "Humans weren't meant to fly; of all people in the world, no one knew that better than me. Ten years I had been trying, with nothing but scars and frustration to show for it. I was never going to reach my dream now." Hinata has all but given up on reaching her dream. It's hopeless. Or is it? AU. (Don't own the cover image - all credit goes to InvaderVal on deviantart)


**First fanfiction in almost six months. For those of you wondering about _On My Way_, my other Naruto fanfic about Hinata, I am...working on it. Kind of facing writer's block on it right now, but I haven't given up on it. It is _not_ gonna be one of those abandoned fics, trust me. **

**Anyway, this story is...different than the way I originally wrote it to be. A lot of the plot kind of blindsided me during the writing (and editting) process. It is closely based off an entry for a writing contest I entered; I only changed the names and a few of the plot twists to more closely suit the Naruto characters. **

_**General Warnings: alternate universe, non-violent almost-character-death, gen (no pairings).**_

**Disclaimer: If I was the one behind the creation of Naruto, I would a) not be writing fanfictions, b) be way better at art, and c) ACTUALLY BE LIVING IN JAPAN, CREATING MANGA UNDER THE NAME MASASHI KISHIMOTO!**

* * *

I stood on the edge of the cliff, waves crashing below me. _What's the point in even trying anymore?_

Humans weren't meant for flying; of all people in the world, no one knew that better than me. Ten years I had been trying, with nothing but scars and frustration to show for it. I was never going to reach my goal now.

Smiling weakly, I recalled the first time I'd ever tried to fly. I'd only been five years old.

"_Ya can't fly! If people were supposed to fly, they woulda been born with wings, Hinata-chan."_

"_That's not true, Neji-nii! And I'll prove it to ya!" _

I had hated it when cousin Neji told me that it was impossible to fly; back then, I hated being told that I couldn't do something.

In the village where I grew up, if you were born a boy, you were expected to be the one who put food on the table. Girls' only jobs were to cook the meals and look after the children; even Sakura had settled down after a while. Stubbornness was seen as unladylike; then again, I'd never exactly acted like a lady in the first place.

If only stubbornness was all that it took to get my body off the ground...

I'd come up with one crazy scheme after another. First came jumping out of a tree; that hadn't ended well. Crutches had been my new best friend for months afterward. Lessons learned? Do not jump out of trees…and that I was going to need a little extra help.

I laughed at the memory of my next attempt at flying. I didn't even remember anymore how the idea had gotten into my head that wings were something birds could just lend to someone else. Thankfully, no matter how hard I'd tried, I never got close enough to a bird to actually put my idea into action.

"_Why don't birds let people borrow their wings?"_

_Mom looked surprised at the question, like she'd never heard it before. I couldn't have been the first one to ask her that...could I? "Well," she finally said, "birds need their wings to fly, Hinata-chan."_

"_But I need them to fly too!" I cried out plaintively. _

"_Wings aren't like shoes or toys, Hyuuga Hinata. They're not something that a bird can take off and give to someone else. If someone asked you to lend them your arm, could you do it?"_

"_No," I quickly replied. "My arm's attached to me!"_

"_It's the same way with the birds, honey. They have their wings firmly attached to their bodies; they couldn't take them off, even if they wanted to."_

My mother's explanation made sense...but that didn't mean that I was happy about it. Why did birds get to fly and humans didn't?

Each passing year brought new attempts at reaching what by now was my dream. No matter what I did, though, the only thing I had was frustration. For ten years, though, my family had supported me in my attempts…at least, my parents had. They never took me seriously, though; to them, it was just another phase that I was eventually going to grow out of. My cousin was just the skeptic, 'believe it when I see it' one.

When I didn't grow out of my 'phase', though, my parents started to treat me… differently.

"_Get yer head out the clouds, girl! There's work ta be done, and you just sit around daydreaming!"_

They expected me to grow up like the rest of the kids. Get married, start a family of my own, and slave in the fields just to get food to eat. I was the only girl who didn't dream of that. _If I'd been more like the other girls, would I even be standing here?_

Ten years of trying, and never once had I succeeded in even getting off the ground. Even my year in the city hadn't gotten me any closer to my dream.

Looking down at the crashing waves, I couldn't stop the tears that blurred the corners of my vision. The salty air blew in off the sea, drying my eyes before the tears of frustration even had a chance to fall.

"There she is!" I heard someone shout. It was followed by the sound of running feet and, when I finally turned around, I realized that I was surrounded. These weren't strangers, though; they were people from my own village.

"Hinata!" I heard Neji call out from amongst the gathered crowd. "Get away from here!"

"Shut yer trap, boy," the village miller, Fugaku, yelled at him. "This doesn't concern ya."

"What's going on?" I said almost impatiently. My biggest dislike, after being told what to do, it was being kept in the dark about the world around me. When no one answered immediately, I added, "Is something wrong?"

"Nothin' is wrong-" one of the villagers – I think it was Chouji, the baker – began.

"There's just something that definitely ain't right," Fugaku cut in. Pointing at me, he simply stated, "And that thing is you."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, eyes narrowed slightly.

"It's simple," Fugaku said, grinning. "You ain't welcome 'round here no more."

"You can't just kick me out of the village, Fugaku-san," I said crossly, as if speaking to an overeager child. "You have to get the support of at least half the village before someone can even come close to being exiled. You know that."

"What makes ya think that I don't got that already, Hyuuga?"

" 'Cause instead of coming here on your own, you went and brought yer own army, just to get rid of one little girl." Some of the accent I had discarded during my time away leaked back into my speech as I talked.

"That's just like ya, ain't it, Hyuuga? Talkin' down to us villagers as if we were the dirt b'neath yer shoes," Fugaku sneered. "All that year in the city did to ya was make ya even higher in yer britches than ya were b'fore ya left. All this talk of flying's gone to yer head, girl. Ya don't belong here no more. Heck, I don't think ya ever did, with all yer daydreaming and wasting the day away coming up with crazy plans, filling our young uns' heads with nonsense."

"I'm not talkin' down to anyone, Fugaku," I replied coldly.

"Sure don't sound like it ta me, Hyuuga." Fugaku took one menacing step forward, face darkening with anger. "Like I said, you've been fillin' our yung uns' heads with dreams and other such nonsense. 'Cause o' you, those kids disappeared without a trace."

"What?" I breathed, surprise and horror flooding my veins.

"They're gone. No one knows what 'appened, but all we know is that, when we got up this morning, ever single yung un' in town that you've talked to was gone," he said accusingly.

"All I've done is tell them a few stories, Fugaku," I said, refusing to move even an inch despite his continuing advance towards me. "I never took any of them."

"That ain't true, and ya know it, Hyuuga!" Fugaku screamed at me. "Ya took our children as sure as ya filled their heads with hopeless nonsense!

"We don't need story tellers 'round here, girl." He halted barely a foot from me, eyes lined with hatred. "Yer nothin' but a witch; you've stolen our youngsters. We need workers, and now we ain't got that, thanks to you and yer talk of flying and magic."

"Go back to where ya came from, witch!" One of the crowd shouted.

"You don't belong here!"

"Give us back our children, ya monster!"

"But I didn't take them!" I hollered at them.

"Stop lyin', girl, else there'll be worse things waitin' fer ya than banishment!" Fugaku threatened.

"I already told you! I didn't take them, and I don't know where they are!" I retorted, fear finally starting to creep through my blood.

"I tol' ya ta stop lyin'!" Fugaku said, arms snaking out to grab onto my shoulders.

"I didn't do it!" I screamed in his face. Anger and resentment and frustration ran rampant through his facial features.

"I warned ya, girl!" Fugaku growled, hand slipping around my throat. My hands flew to his wrist, my arm muscles trying desperately to support my weight as he lifted me effortlessly off the ground. "I tol' ya to tell me the truth, so now you'll pay for taking our future away!" He took one step forward, dangling me over the cliff's edge as I struggled to breath.

Bringing his face leeringly close to mine, he whispered, "This is for takin' my boy Sasuke from me, ya witch." With that, he released his grasp around my throat, and I hurtled towards the crashing waves below.

* * *

The villagers watched with a strange mixture of emotions as the girl's – no, the witch's – form disappeared over the cliff edge: satisfaction for seeing their children's kidnapper punished for her crime; vague horror as she dropped from view; apprehension over the fact that, if she really was a witch, then even this would not be enough to kill her. As the minutes passed, though, nothing happened, and the villagers let out the breaths they'd been holding since before the confrontation began.

It was over.

Their children had been avenged.

* * *

_So, this is it, huh? _The village, my parents, even my own cousin... In the end, none of them had defended me against the accusations of the others.

I felt a sort of morbid fascination as I fell through the open air; maybe this was what flying felt like, this feeling of weightlessness and the wind roaring past your ears. Funny that, just when I'm about to meet my end, I finally get a taste of what achieving my dream might have been like...

* * *

After the girl had fallen from the cliff, the villagers had fallen silent. Not all were pleased with the way events had played out, but there was an overall sense of 'we did it; we saved the village'. Because of the silence, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps was all too clear. All eyes turned to the source of the noise, bodies tensing.

All breathed a secret sigh of relief when a man from their own village broke breathlessly through the underbrush.

"Fugaku!" the man yelled hoarsely, barely managing to catch his breath. "Fugaku, we found the kids!"

A ripple of gasps and relieved sobs were heard from among the crowd.

Finally catching his breath, the man continued, "They sneaked out this morning while everyone was 'sleep. They've been in the meadow by that dry riverbed in the forest this 'hole time. None of 'em's been harmed."

* * *

_Are you really going to let it end this way?_ What? _Are you really going to let a little thing like your impending doom get in the way of your goal?_ Where did that come from?

Still, the thought resounded through my head, gaining strength until it blotted out all else.

No, I couldn't let this be the end of me. Not now that I'd gotten a taste of what was waiting for me.

* * *

"Why'd they do such a fool thing?" Fugaku hollered back in annoyance. "Was it 'cause o' that witch?"

"We asked, but all they's said is 'We wanted ta pick some flowers fer the table'."

"So Hyuuga wasn't a witch after all," someone said after a few moments of silence. Everyone, even Fugaku, felt the horror growing within their hearts.

* * *

_Is this the way you're going to let things end, Hyuuga?_

I could only think of one answer.

_No._

As if my new resolve had thrown a switch inside me, a searing pain tore through my back, and I plunged into the waiting water. Bubbles of air swirled towards the surface as I sank beneath the waves; the pain didn't grow stronger or weaker as I willed my arms and legs to move, to swim myself back to the surface, as a strange cloud billowed out around me.

* * *

The villagers stood in horror as they realized their terrible mistake: they'd killed one of their own, all for the sake of revenge for something she hadn't even done. They'd killed her, as sure as if they'd stabbed her themselves. No one could survive that kind of fall.

The witch – no, she wasn't a witch; she was just a girl after all – had paid the price for their superstitions and stubborn disbelief in anything their eyes couldn't see.

Why? Why hadn't they listened to her? For all the tales and pipedreams she'd told, she'd never once lied to them when it really counted. Wails of guilt and grief echoed through the forest.

What had they done? _What had they_ _done?_

* * *

Lungs burning, my head broke through the water's surface; coughing, gasping for air, my arms grabbed for the nearest rock and clung to it with what little strength they still had. After a few minutes, my muscles had regained enough of their former vigour to haul the rest of my battered body from the water. Something – probably my sopping wet dress – weighed down on my back muscles, almost dragging me back into the water.

I...I was alive. I'd fallen from the top of a 75-foot cliff, yet I'd _survived_.

I sat there for what seemed like hours, drinking in the sunshine and the sound of the pounding surf just because I was still there to _enjoy it_. Looking down at my arms, I wiggled my fingers, fascinated by the way they wiggled at the slightest little thought. I surveyed my whole body in much the same manner, marvelling at how my entire body moved at every unconscious command. And then, I noticed...the weight dragging on my back muscles was still there...

* * *

People slowly staggered back to their homes, none bothering to look over the cliff to the waters below. There was no need; they already knew that there would be nothing for them to see. No one could survive that kind of fall.

How were they supposed to tell Hyuuga Hinata's parents that their oldest daughter was dead, killed in a moment of superstitious rage by the same people whose children the girl herself had once looked after?

Where were they even supposed to begin?

* * *

I reached around with my arm, trying to feel for what could be causing such a thing. My fingertips ran across nothing but damp cloth, until they encountered something...smooth, almost like silk. It felt warm, though a bit damp from my recent 'swim', and , as I ran my fingers down, seemed to stretch from just below my shoulder blades to what would have been just a few inches past mid-thigh, had I been standing up.

Grabbing hold of one, I tried to tug it around to where I could get a better view of it; looking over my shoulder did little to tell me what I was dealing with. The muscles in my back twinged in pain at the sharp motion, though, and I instinctively let go, clenching my back muscles in an attempt to ease the sting.

My eyes widened when the strange _things_ twitched in response. My muscles tightened even further, almost unconsciously, and then those odd objects didn't just twitch; they leaped up into the air, as if they had a mind of their own. I squealed slightly in fright, not knowing what they were, until a strong wind blew past and caused them to fan open. That's when I realized...they weren't things; they were more than that.

Looking back over my shoulder, I screamed again, but this time, it was with laughter; joyous, heart-pounding, breathless laughter. Laughter at my predicament; after all, who gets banished from their village and thrown off a cliff? Who survives such a thing, only to have their greatest dream realized before their eyes? I even laughed at the fact that I was now technically homeless; I couldn't go back, not with the way they'd just treated me, and especially not now…not with these wings…

To be honest, though, at that moment, I couldn't really bring myself to care about that...

I didn't care that I had been banished from the only real home I'd ever known.

I didn't care that my own family had deserted me when I'd really needed them.

I didn't even care that I currently had no future, seeing as I had no more than the clothing on my back to my name. I'd get through somehow; things would get better…

Just like in all of my wildest daydreams, I spread my newly formed wings...and I flew. I laughed and screamed for joy as each wing beat took me higher and higher. I flew away from home, from the village who cared more about superstition than one of their own people. I soared away from the source of my problems, my pain, my grief.

I chortled at the thought of cousin Neji's accusation from all those years ago. That's when I had to admit that Neji was partially right. Humans weren't meant to fly...

They were meant to soar.

* * *

**And that's it. This is only supposed to be a one-shot, so don't expect anything more. Apologies for OOC-ness, but this is an Alternate Universe. The characters have grown up differently, and not all characters are going to be the same age as they are in the Naruto-verse. With that said, please leave a review. Please, or I'll sick Akamaru on you.**


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